Wednesday Morning Commute - How did I get here?

Coming home the other night, there was a police car stopped in the road on the East Capitol Bridge heading East. In front of it, some sort of metal rack (like a TV stand) that may have fallen off a truck or something. The next morning I noticed that it had been moved to the pedestrian path on the side of the bridge. It's still there now. Problem solved.

More CaBi visualization with newer data that covers Alexandria (here and here). "the Alexandria docks tended to be pretty insular. There were 4,139 bikes checked out in Alexandria during this window, and 91 percent of them were returned to docks in Alexandria." Wilson Blvd stations have a similar cluster effect, but "trips beginning or ending near Nationals Park and the Navy Yard head to or from a panoply of points north, east and west — just not south." Also check out this trip comparison tool from mvjantzen; it compares walking, biking, transit and driving.

At this week's meeting on the Green Mile sidewalk, opponents were concerned about the tree loss, cost and traffic impacts of the project. Meanwhile, "Bicyclists from the District and Montgomery County said the existing sidewalk on the other side of Wisconsin Avenue is not wide enough for bikers to share with pedestrians, which might force bikers into oncoming traffic. Otherwise, cyclists ride along the six lanes of Wisconsin Avenue with cars sometimes going 40 mph." I'm as big a fan of trees as anyone, but I'd rather see the sidewalk go in, with the county committing to plant more an equal number of trees in the area.

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"Five percent went to Crystal City, 3 percent to D.C., and fewer than 1 percent went to the Wilson Boulevard area of Arlington."

And I'll bet you a good portion of that 5% is dock hopping to other locations in Arlington and DC.

If I really hustle, and get a break on the lights (and ped traffic), I can get from Braddock metro to Jeff memorial before the 30 minute mark. There's no way I can get to any stations north of Rt 50 from Alexandria in under 30 minutes though - I'm surprised even 1% bothered to make this trip in a single leg.

I also imagine a (couple of) Potomac Yards dock would add double digit percentage points to the Alexandria rideshare numbers that go out of the city.

(the loss of the Harris Teeter at 3600 Glebe might have also negatively impacted intercity traffic)

Ah my pet peeve. When I worked at L'Enfant Plaza I would use the side path on the Case Bridge. DC's finest would frequently use it as a receptacle for interstate crash debris. DCDPW would clean it up with regularity about twice a year.

"Otherwise, cyclists ride along the six lanes of Wisconsin Avenue with cars sometimes going 40 mph."

The only part of my (opposite rush-hour direction) commute that I changed for safety was to avoid the stretch of Wisconsin between Dorset and Bradley: cars often go far in excess of 40 mph (because they can). Also, even though it is opposite commute and thus light traffic for the three lanes, even when I was riding squarely in the middle of the rightmost lane cars almost hit me: once a side-mirror going > 40mph gave my arm a horrible hit and one I had to bail off the road because a driver was coming up my tail and apparently not slowing down (a policeman saw the latter and pulled the driver over).

At the most recent Alexandria BPAC meeting, I was told that CaBi in Alexandria is exceeding expectations. Unfortunately, that success isn't translating into new stations any time soon. New stations are in the works, but the city can't promise they will arrive during 2013.

I am less interested in growth along the MtV Trail for CaBi. There's a whole lot of park and airport between the two. As others in this thread have pointed out, it's about connecting business districts, and there are closer business districts to be had: Del Ray, the Carlyle, Arlandria, and Potomac Yard. It should help that Arlington is going to make the makeshift path from 4 mile run to Potomac ave official.

Admittedly I don't ride that stretch very often, but when I have, I have not found it so bad. The grade is gradual, so I could keep speed up, and the availability of two other travel lanes seemed to give drivers a better chance to slot in.

BTW, not sure if it's been mentioned, but there are now "Bicycles May Use Full Lane" signs posted on 16th Street in Silver Spring, between Spring Street and Second Ave—the same section that now has speed cameras.

@Chris Eatough-why aren't there any CaBi stations in Potomac Yards? There's several good spots for them,and I'm sure they'd increase traffic to the shops. I've e-mailed the management twice,but never gotten a response.

@dynaryder I'd suggest you e-mail people in the Alexandria government.

That there are zero CaBi stations in Potomac Yard may be related to the fact that their are zero on-street bike lanes planned for that entire development, but only in the sense that Alexandria is lightyears behind Arlington and DC on bicycling. That is, the stations should be there eventually (bike lanes seem to be a taller order--they take away more space from cars than CaBi), but it could take years.

I've screamed pretty loudly about the bike lane issue and have concluded that we need a lot more people in Alexandria asking for bicycle _transportation_ (versus recreation) facilities in Alexandria. And that the City Council needs to hear it. The director of TE&S seems to assume that his marching orders do not include bike lanes unless the City Council specifically says so. And sometimes not even then.

Well, there are the sidepaths both on Potomac Ave and Rt1. (and right now Potomac avenue traffic is light enough - and enforced at 25 mph which is key for the future - that riding on the road is fine.

There's also a case to be made - particularly for that area with it being infill development - that putting sharrows (which are there) is a superior way to achieve the required cultural change. i.e. 'bikes are vehicles too and have rights the the road'.